google+

From flashy to subtle, you can now make your Google+ photos come to life
Google+ picked up a facelift and a big group of new features back at Google I/O 2013, and two of them -- Auto Awesome and Auto Enhance -- have opened up cool new photography possibilities on the network. Auto Awesome is especially intriguing, as it automatically turns groups of similar pictures you take into an animated...

You can find the whole Android Central family on Google+
Pick up that Android phone in front of you, or fish it out of your pocket. Chances are the Google+ app is installed. Here's a great way to get the best use out of it -- follow AC and the whole crew on Google+. You'll stay abreast of everything that's fit to print about Android, and it's the best way to shoot the breeze with any of us....

Google+ gets a new notifications mascot, 'mark all read' button
Normally we wouldn't make a big deal about such a small change to Google+, but this one's kind of fun. Stick with us here.
A couple days ago the little notification identifier switched from a number (which Facebook appears to have adopted for unread posts, by the way) to a bell with a rather cute smiley face. We'll call him Mr....

Notification sync comes to Google+
An updated notification interface is now rolling out to Google+ on the web and through the official Android app. First up, notification sync is coming to Google's social network, and reading or dismissing a notification on one device or platform will register the change across all platforms. (Google recently announced something similar for Cloud Messaging in...

HTC's Zoe feature is a perfect way to play with Auto Awesome motion on Google+
Google+ got some great new image tools and toys last week and Google I/O, including the "motion" portion of the Auto Awesome tweaks. How it works is, it takes any series of pictures of the same subject that have been shot in quick succession and transforms them into an animated gif image. You can then share it on...

Official Google+ app hits version 4.0 with Snapseed photo tools and more
Update: The new version of Google+ is now live!
Following on from the 41 new Google+ features announced at Google I/O last week, Google has unveiled one more to bring the count up to 42 -- a new Google+ app for Android. The new Google+ version 4.0 incorporates many of the photo management and enhancement features of the...

Update: Dori Storbeck now says Google has "nothing to announce at this time."
Original: If you were wondering why the new Google Hangouts app asked you to confirm your phone number, this might be the reason. Googler Dori Storbeck, Community Manager for Google+ Hangouts and Chat, has confirmed in a Google+ post that SMS integration will eventually be headed to the new messaging app.
Responding to...

A unified design across different screen sizes provides a better experience
In working to unify its different platforms, Google is rolling out updates to Google+ on the web and mobile apps to create a more consistent experience across screen sizes. The big focus from the keynote is on the web component, which has taken on a view with multiple "cards" and columns in the same way that you'd...

At the Google I/O keynote in San Francisco, Google VP Vic Gundotra demonstrated a ton of new features for the company's social network, Google+. Among these is a bevy of photographic capabilities, chiefly Google Photo Highlights. If you've ever uploaded a massive cache of photos to a social network and had to sort through to pick out the best ones, you may appreciate this.
Google's algorithms...

A simple and unobtrusive way to suggest more relevant content to users
Website operators with mobile versions of their site can now simply and quickly include code that suggests additional content based on information from Google+. The suggestions will rise up as a small bar from the bottom of the site, and only when the user scrolls up -- similarly to the way interface elements hide and show...

New 15GB shared storage replaces old 10GB for Gmail and 5GB for photos on Google+ and 5GB for Drive
The Google goodies are already coming our way, before we even get to Google I/O. Announced today, no longer will your Gmail storage sit at 10GB for free, or 5GB on Google+ photos and Google Drive. Google has introduced a new, 15GB free allowance which covers all three products.
This is great...

Audio streaming app gets new Google account capabilities
The Android (and iOS) version of popular streaming and music discovery app SoundCloud has been updated with new Google account features. The new version lets you log in with any Google account credentials on your phone, in addition to the ever-present Facebook login. What's more, you can now share directly to Google+ through the app,...

360-degree panoramas from supported devices can now be included on websites, thanks to new Google widget
The ability to create 'Photosphere' 360-degree panoramas is one of the coolest features of the current crop of Nexus devices (and a few others running custom software). But so far the only place to share these images has been Google+ and a handful of other Google services, including Maps...

It's a work-around, but there is a way to delete those pesky empty Google+ albums from your Gallery
Has your Gallery gone haywire with blank and duplicate Google+ albums? Don't worry, you're not alone. Since the implementation of Google+ Instant Upload and its deep integration into the included Gallery app, more and more of the photos you see on your device aren't actually... on your device...

A visual refresh could be coming soon to Google's content portal
The last time the Google Play Store app got a major redesign, it was still called the Android Market. So we're about due a visual refresh, and it looks like a new version could be headed our way sooner rather than later.
YouTube's Eileen Rivera posted the screenshot above on Google+, showing a lighter, more colorful design with...

Mobile users can now see strikethrough text formatting as well
Google has been knocking out some serious updates to both its mobile and web interfaces over the last few weeks, and today's Google+ update cleans up some odds-and-ends. Users now have better options for selecting and editing cover photos, which falls in line with the move on the web to big (well actually, huge) cover photos. You...

Snapseed photo filters, other editing tools included in the iOS update
Google today announced an update to its Android and iOS Google+ applications, with a number of new features.
First off, you'll notice that your feed looks a bit different. You get more text before you have to tap through -- definitely a good change. And tapping a photo or video or link now takes you straight to the page to...

Google+ today rolled out some interesting improvements to its web version. The biggest, obviously, is the gianormous new cover photos. What was once long and skinny is now long and not-so-skinny. (We know how it feels.) When fully expanded, the new cover photos have a 16x9 aspect ration and can be as large as 2,120px by 1,192px. That's big. So make sure your image doesn't suck.
Next is a new tab...

How do you know you've started to make it as a social network? When Nokia, that misfit manufacturer that's keeping Windows Phone alive one Lumia at a time, adds Google+ to its new NFC tag application.
Our pals at WPCentral have the scoop on this one, but the gist is that you can create a tag to a Google+ link. Say, to the highly popular +Android Central page. That's a good sign for ye olde G+.

As part of its new Google+ sign-in initiative that went live today, Google pushed a silent update to the Google Play Services app to support the new feature, which also brought along a new app called Google Settings. Google Play Services updates in the background routinely, much like the Play Store itself, in order to have phones up to date and syncing properly. The updates don't usually install...